Waylon Jones: The Deepest Darkness
by War Journalist
Summary: After losing Batman, Killer Croc falls into the deep sewers beneath Arkham Asylum. As he travels through the endless darkness he finds that he may not be alone, & discovers that the worst monsters are just below the surface.
1. Chapter 1

Waylon Jones  
The  
Deepest  
Darkness

_By War Journalist.  
I do not assume ownership over any characters mentioned in this fan-fiction. Waylon Jones, a.k.a. "Killer Croc" is the copyrighted property of DC Comics Incorporated._

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_AN: These events take place immediately after Killer Croc's final segment in the "Batman: Arkham Asylum" video game. If you haven't played it: 1. You should. 2. Don't worry, this story should still make sense. 3. This will offer minor spoilers.  


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Chapter One

"I WILL FIND YOU, BATMAN!!"I roared as I tumbled down through the hole along with rocks and bits of concrete. My tough skin smacked and skid against the walls as I fell. I was facing downward when I saw the bottom. I braced my arms in front of my face and put my legs down. I heard rock shifting & steel creaking as I crashed straight through it and landed in some water below, & the hard concrete beneath. I savored the cool feeling for a minute as the bits and pieces of rubble that had followed me splashed into the water. "Son of a bitch" I cursed to myself as I rose from the knee-high water. Not because it hurt to fall down that unending tunnel. Nothing really seemed to hurt anymore. It was because I was denied my revenge. I let him slip right through my fingers!

I looked back up toward where I had fallen from. Even with my eyes accustomed to darkness as they were, I could barely see the light above. I reached up and tried to grab on to the stone sides, but only pulled down more rock. I bent over and jumped up, hands outstretched, and tried again to cling to the wall and pull myself back up. Maybe I could still get him! I could smell sweat & fear, and I could practically hear his labored breathing as I bore down on him. And his suit looked worn and torn. Maybe he took a short breather after believing he escaped me! He would regret it. My claws sunk deep into the stone and secured me. I straightened my arms out and forced my back against the wall to hold me before bringing my legs up as well. I reached one hand up, attempting to move a little further. I would have him yet!

I heard the stone crack and shift again, and before I knew it the walls were falling down along with me back into the water below. I once again savored the cool feeling against my tough skin. I stood up yet again, letting the water and rubble slide off my back and looked up. The light above was gone. I must have caved the tunnel in. Mother fucker. I gritted my teeth before releasing another agitated roar. The sound echoed around me, and I slammed my fist into the wall to my right as I thought. My punch shook bits of rock loose from the ceiling. The splashes they made as they fell into the water echoed around me too, the only sound being made besides my breathing and the clinking of my chains. I let the angry heat work through me, closing my eyes tight and dragging my claws against the stone walls for just a moment. It didn't matter. I was still alive. And as long as that stayed true, there would always be a next time.

As my rage finally subsided, I opened my eyes and looked around. Where was I? I hadn't been down here before. The walls were covered in slime. The water felt murky. And there was an odd scent in the moist air. Nobody had used these tunnels in years, which would explain why I fell so far down. The whole asylum must have been built on top of this. But the big question was how I was going to get out of here. The way back up was blocked, and I couldn't climb up anyway. I had to get my bearings first, though. I thought back to that moment when I had fallen. Was I still facing the same direction? I didn't remember turning as I fell. I was certain I hadn't. But I had turned in the other direction when I stood up. I was facing back toward my lair, so behind me was the way to the water reservoir. where I could probably climb up more easily.

So I turned around only to find myself facing a wall of fallen stone. No bother. I brought a hand up to push the pile over. But it resisted. I brought both of my hands up and pushed harder against the rock. But still nothing. I felt my anger boiling up inside me again. I'm Killer Croc! No useless pile of rocks was going to keep me down! I growled again and began tearing away, rending stone after stone from the wall and dropping them into the water behind me. After a minute or two of heavy digging, I planted my feet and pushed again, like a football player against an offensive lineman. It still didn't give, so I pushed harder...harder...harder! I felt my arms, shoulders, and knees burning before I finally gave up. The wall hadn't even budged. God damn it. It must have been piled up from floors above.

I gave the rocks one last spiteful punch before turning in the opposite direction. It looked like I'd have to take the long way around. I knelt down so that I was almost completely under the water, letting the cool, comfortable feeling wash over me, and began paddling forward. I felt so at home in the water. Salt, fresh, didn't matter to me. It felt so good against my dry, rough skin. And in this world, I had no equals. The waters were mine. I relished the thought, thinking back to my lair above. How I had spent so much time making it my home as best I could. The guards used to come down right to the entrance to my tunnels with my meals. They learned quickly how stupid that was. I decorated the walls with their uniforms and intestines. It didn't matter how many I killed; they wouldn't dare send anyone down to stop me. They just stopped coming down, simply throwing the meat through the door when I wasn't around. That lair was mine. And no one ever came in without me knowing, and feeling my wrath. I almost smiled as I thought back to Crane. That freak. Spindly little weakling, preying on peoples' fears like a coward. Battling in their minds because he wasn't man enough to face them head-on. I would have killed him there and then if he hadn't tasted so rotten. I took a quick nibble of him before I let him go. Thinking back on it, I should have torn him limb from limb, but he would probably bleed out or get an infection that would kill him. I didn't want that horrid stench in my caverns. And nobody went in or out without my permission. Except for one.

My anger crept up on me yet again. Damn! Now I'd never get another chance at Batman before he left the island! Joker's stupid plan would fail, just like it always did. His Titan formula was useless. I knew by now that you needed more than muscle to beat Batman. If you didn't I would have ripped him to pieces by now. Batman. I so wanted to rip that suit off like opening a can of tuna. Then tear his flesh with my claws, make him scream in agony. I chuckled to myself at the thought. Finally after all these years seeing Batman break down, and at my hands. Oh, the satisfaction. Dashed away by some fucking loose bricks! I growled to myself as I continued down the tunnel toward an intersection. It didn't matter now. All that mattered was me getting out of there. I knew my lair well, and it was likely built on the same plan as these tunnels. I came to the intersection at last. I turned and looked in both directions. I had to squint to see three feet ahead of me. There were no lights down here. The air was thick and muggy, almost like the darkness was part of it. Fuck. If my lair was built like this place, I should go right and try to find a weak wall or something. But the outer edges of the island were to my left. I didn't remember any weak floors, or other access-ways in my lair other than the entrance. So I went with my gut, and turned to the left. But I didn't want to go off half-cocked. I raised my left hand from the water and reached out to the left corner, sliding my claws across it as I turned. This way I could find my way back if I needed to. I heard my claws scrape like steel on stone against the wall, and pulled my arm back into the comfort of the water. I was on my way.

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_AN: Well, what do you think so far? The chapters will get progressively longer. Questions? Comments? Nitpicks? Errors? I take anything. I try to respond as best & as quickly as I can. Thanks for looking! -War Journalist_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

I don't know how long I crept around those damn tunnels. Never found anything. Not even any rats to eat or trash to sift through. Soon I'd lost track of how many turns I'd taken in either direction. The water felt stagnant, like there was no current or tide. And that usually meant there was no way out. But I kept looking. There had to be. They wouldn't build tunnels under all this rock with only one way out. It felt like I was walking with a black bag over my head, these tunnels were so dark. After bumping into the walkways against the walls a few times, I started using my hands to feel around, like a blind guy with a cane. But no matter where I stopped to feel, it was always the same. Slime-covered concrete walls. Dozens of rusted pipes running over my head. The sound annoyed me. Drip...drip...drip... It echoed around me constantly. Whether it was just above me, or off somewhere in the distance, I could here it. It sounded like the ticking of a bomb. After a while, I reached the end of that particular tunnel, finding nothing. As far as I could tell, the only way was to the right. I made my mark on the corner as I turned.

Speaking of bombs, I thought back to that loon, Joker. He was a friendly loon. Friendly to me anyway. Probably because I could rip that grin off his neck for good if he pissed me off. I'd heard about Joker's big plan from a few of the other inmates. Joker's goons had been brought over from Black Gate prison. I'd spent some time there before Gordon decided to start throwing me in this Hellhole. I just wish I could have been part of Joker's big plan. I know the sewers. I could have been a guard or something if he wanted to store something down here. Hell, I could have been a guard anywhere. Joker seemed to be awfully interested in the Medical Wing. I had a cage there. I could have been helpful, damn it! I growled again and smacked my fist against the stone under the water. Nobody ever hired me anymore. And if they did, it was just for muscle or to stand there and look ugly. They all think I'm stupid or something. Like I can't do anything but kill and eat. Those fucks forget I used to have my own operations! I came to Gotham to be a boss. I was going to be King Croc: the top dog, the leader of organized crime! Now look at me. I'm just a thug. I came to another intersection. Four directions this time. I moved to the left wall and made my mark in it before moving on. Keeping to the left had to get me somewhere.

Oh well. Batman, that son of a bitch, would probably stop Joker's plan anyway. He always did. That's how we all ended up here in the first place. But that clown just never gave up. He always got out somehow with some other crazy scheme in mind. He was usually the closest to beating the Bat, taunting him the whole way. At least the way he told it. Every time he came back to Arkham, the whole place buzzed with his latest schemes like a rumor on a fucking playground. But he always lost. And he always came back with a smile on his face. Haha. But it was weird. He always really did seemed un-annoyed, Hell, even happy to come back. It was more than Arkham being just a small setback. It was like, Joker _wanted_ to lose. I'd heard that psycho-babble that Joker really wanted to dissect Batman and break his spirit and all that. But it always seemed to me that Joker looked forward to being beaten. Looked forward to all his chaos being fixed. Maybe in some weird way, he hoped Batman could fix _him_ one of these days. Good luck with _that_. I snorted and chuckled a bit.

As I stopped laughing I realized how slowly I was breathing, and yawned. I hadn't slept since five when they wanted to move me down to my lair. Who knows how long ago that had been. My arms and knees ached, even under the water. My eyelids felt like weights. I was tired. And this damn endless darkness wasn't helping anything. I couldn't remember how far away I was from the last turn. And I could have been hours away from where I fell. Fuck it. I leaned to my right, feeling a walkway against the wall. It was too small for me to completely lie on it, so I just leaned up to it. I cracked my neck. First to the right, then to the left. I felt looser, freer. Never go to sleep uncomfortable. You'll always wake up worse. I crossed my arms in front of me on the sidewalk, hearing my chains clinking as they slid over the concrete. I'd completely forgotten about them. I'd have to tear them off tomor... well, whenever I woke up. I lay my head on my arms, yawned again, and closed my eyes. It didn't seem to make a difference in this darkness. And by now I'd gotten used to the quiet. There were a few drips every now and then, but they were easy to tune out. Before I knew it, I was out like a light.

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_A/N: I honestly thought this chapter would be longer. I suppose it just looked that way. Oh well. We get a deeper look at our environment, Croc's life of crime, and his connection to this whole place. Hope you like it! -War Journalist_


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

I was sitting at my desk at school, squirming against the hard wooden chair. My clothes felt uncomfortable against my skin. My bow-tie was choking me, so I put my finger into my collar and tried to loosen it. Didn't work. I looked up, and everyone was staring at me. They were laughing, and smirking, and pointing at me. Teacher looked really mad. I froze in fear as she picked up her ruler and came at me. She slammed it on my desk, screaming something I couldn't understand. She tried to slap my hands, but I pulled them away. She tried to swat me in my head, but I ducked. Suddenly her face was right in front of me, staring into my eyes, still screaming nonsense. I felt frightened and guilty, like I'd done something wrong. I jumped out of my chair and ran out of the little schoolhouse. I ran down the dirt road toward the safest place I could think of: home. But the road was so long, and my legs were already hurting. I passed a sign. I couldn't read it, but I knew I was going the right way.

Suddenly I felt like I'd stepped in jello, and I fell flat on my face. I got up and heard it again. That nonsense. I looked back and saw the other kids from school. They were chasing me, throwing rocks and sticks while screaming that nonsense! I couldn't understand it, but it was making me feel so sad and guilty. I just wanted it to go away! I got up and ran, but it felt like I was running through muck; I wasn't going as fast as I should have. It was getting dark now, and the voices were going away now too but I kept running. Finally I saw my house. The light from the window looked like a lighthouse, guiding me in. But as I ran, the ground seemed to fall out from under me, like I was running through jello again. I tried, but I couldn't lift myself up. I felt my legs being pulled down by something... something big that growled and hissed. I tried to hold myself above the thick muddy ground, but I couldn't. My house was disappearing, and everything was going black, save for the bright yellow candle light in the window. I tried to scream for help, but I felt the mud filling my mouth, choking me! I tried and failed to struggle & swim as I sank all the way down into the warm darkness.

I snapped my eyes open and realized I couldn't breath! I jerked my head upward out of the water and started gagging, feeling like I was about to throw up. I groped around trying to find something to hold on to while my feet tried to stay balanced. I grabbed something hard and flat. I opened my mouth as wide as it would go, feeling like something was jammed down my throat waiting to get out. I coughed and hacked, finally feeling the water gushing out of me as my lungs filled with air again. I was breathing hard and quick, trying to find out what the fuck was going on. I couldn't see anything! I was blind! No! I slid my hands over the flat surface and up the wall. It felt like it was curving over my head! I turned to try and move and heard the water splash around me. My head was spinning like I just came out of a tornado, so I held my hand to my head and quieted down. I heard dripping from somewhere. Drip...drip...drip. I blinked, and remembered where I was.

I was in the sewer. The deep sewers beneath Arkham Asylum. I was trying to get Batman, and fell down that hole. My memories coming back only worsened my headache. I clamped both my hands against my head, squeezing it hard before releasing it. It felt a little better, but only a little. I stood there for a minute and leaned my left hand against the wall to hold my balance and catch my breath. I felt a little dizzy, but it passed after a minute or two. What the fuck had happened to me? The last thing I remembered was lying down for a nap. My dream was as plain as day in my head. My nightmare that I'd had so many times. I was falling down into some mud. Couldn't breath. And that was how I'd woke up. I must have slipped off the little walkway and fallen into the water. I was breathing hard as I pieced everything together in my head. But my breathing was still difficult. My bow-tie? I raised my free hand to my neck and felt the steel. Duh. The collar, idiot. I was still wearing it. I could feel the chain wagging against my chest. I felt like a dog on a leash. This thing had to have lost its charge by now. I took my hand away from the wall, finally feeling balanced, and felt my way around the collar to the sides. I wrapped my fingers around the bolts keeping the collar together and began unscrewing them. This thing was really choking me. How come I didn't notice this before? As my hands turned with my fingers, I heard my wrist chains swinging and rubbing against my sides. They'd have to go next.

After a few minutes or so, the bolts couldn't loosen any more, so I lifted the collar up, and slipped my head through it. As I breathed my first fresh breath of freedom, I felt something fall out from between my neck and the collar and make a small plop as it landed in the water. Probably just a rock or something from when I fell. I threw the collar down next to where I'd heard it land, and rolled my head around my shoulders. Aaaaah, finally free. It felt good to stand up straight again. I reached up toward the ceiling and stretched, cracking a few spots in my back. I heard the chains dip into the water as I lowered my arms again, reminding myself that I wasn't quite free yet. I wrapped my left hand around the leather strap on my right and tried to budge it. Damn, it was really tight! It barely budged against my skin. I felt downward and grabbed the chain hanging off of it, but there were only two or three links; not long enough to get a good grip. Shit. I thought about trying to bite it off, but I was already getting hungry, and I didn't want to excite my appetite more. Leather reminded me of beef. Fuck it. They didn't make that much noise. I'd take 'em off when I got out of here.

That brought me back to focus. I still needed to find a way out. I moved to take a step forward, but I stopped. I had thrashed a bit when I woke up. Which way was I facing? I looked back and forth reflexively, forgetting that I couldn't see anything anyway. I moved to both of the walls, looking for an arrow or something I may have left myself. Nothing. Damn it. Maybe I was stupid or something. I knelt down into the water in either direction, feeling with my hands for footprints or something I may have left at the bottom. Again, nothing. Shit! I lifted myself back up, scratching the back of my newly-freed neck. I guessed I'd just have to start walking again; see if I could find one of my claw marks. Again, I went with my gut and turned around, submerging again into the calm, warm water and moving forward.

Speaking of my gut, I was getting really hungry now. It only made it worse not knowing just how long it had been since my last meal. Just another side of beef. But it hadn't tasted bad. It had a lot of good fatty bits to it. The muscle was nice and tough, too. I just wish it hadn't been so cold. It couldn't kill those guards to heat them up before feeding me. It couldn't, but I could. I imagined myself in that room next to the freezer where they kept the meat, just before my lair. I imagined them cowering in fear, looking up at me and shooting at me with their little guns. My hide was tough. It took quite a few shots for me to bleed. I'd rip all of them apart before they could do any real damage. And then there was Cash. Aaron Cash. Prick. He was an asshole before I got his hand, and he's an asshole now. As good as it was to have some fresh meat, eating his hand probably wasn't the best way to show these clowns that I wasn't crazy. Or at least it might have earned me fewer electrical shocks.

I thought back; when was the last time I had a nice, hot, prepared meal? I'd been in this place so long, it was hard to tell. I thought back to a good chicken dinner I had once when I first moved to Gotham. Damn good. So thick and juicy. There was mashed potatoes and gravy to go along with it, too. The potatoes were fluffy, yet just a little thickness to them, like I liked. Felt like real mashed potatoes; not that paste shit most people eat. And that gravy was fantastic, too. Had just the right amount of thickness so it didn't run all over, and it tasted soooo good with everything. I thought I'd asked the waiter what kind it was. What was it? I remember him coming up to the table and giving me that look; the look everyone gives me the first time they see me. He looked like he would have pissed himself & screamed if we hadn't been in a nice fancy place. Jesus, I remember I was wearing a suit & tie. I hadn't felt that in forever. Had it really been that long? I returned my thought to the waiter. I probably looked even weirder, a big mug like me in a suit and tie probably looked like something out of a sci-fi movie. Hehe. I remember laughing at him when he left, but what was the gravy?!

Upon hearing my stomach rumble, I decided to drop it. Thinking about what you can't have only makes you want it more. I stopped moving and decided to stretch a little. I bent up and back a bit before stretching my arms out for the wall. The wall. I straightened myself up and realized the wall was gone! I felt around me in a circle, finally finding a corner. I almost passed right through an intersection without knowing it! I stepped backwards so that I was between two walls again. I felt the corners, but didn't find any of my claw marks. It was good; I hadn't been this way before. I was heading in the right direction. But I thought back. It felt like I'd been thinking about food for a while. Could have been ten minutes, could have been an hour! Who knows how many junctions I could have passed without noticing?! This fucking darkness! In another fit of anger, I bashed my hand against the wall to my right. I put my hands together & smashed them into the wall again. I could feel chunks falling out of it against my blows, and it made me feel good; made me feel like I had power again, and after a few hits I started to calm down again.

I moved my hand over the wall, seeing the impression I'd made. That would work for a mark. But just in case, I moved back a bit and made another mark on the opposite wall rather than the corner, to make sure if I came back this way, I'd know I'd been in this direction. After I finished, I moved forward into the intersection. Hmm. Which way? After all the turns I'd taken, I couldn't remember my bearings anymore. The edge of the island could be anywhere. Well, duh, it was an island. There were edges in all directions. But which way led back to Gotham? I honestly couldn't tell. I didn't even have an inkling. Shit. Well, if I kept going in one direction for long enough, I was bound to get somewhere. I turned to the left and made my way to the corner to make my mark. But as my hand moved over the stone, I felt something. An indent or something. I moved both my hands over it, blind as I was. They felt huge; like giant tally marks or something. But they were sideways; longways. They felt like claw marks! Could they be mine? I moved back to the other wall and moved back and forth, comparing. It was possible. But these were a lot bigger. At least they felt that way. And it didn't feel at all like I had come this way before; crossed this intersection.

A strange thought began creeping its way into my head. I couldn't be a hundred percent sure, but these claw marks didn't feel like mine. So that meant that something else must have made them. And that meant there was something else down here with me. The marks didn't feel very old. A few hours... maybe a day or two? I couldn't really tell without seeing them. They could have been mine, and that would mean I was lost. Or they could be from something else, and I wasn't alone. And in bad situations, its best to think about the worst conditions. I was lost AND not alone. But what could possibly be down here after so long? I shifted my feet a bit below the water, and heard something. A faint sound. I thought I heard water move off in the distance. I couldn't tell where, but something had moved. I again looked all around, as if I weren't completely blind. "Who's there?" I said, barely more than a whisper. My raspy voice made it sound like the low hum of an air conditioner. I said it again, louder this time. "Who's there?" I'd said it a little louder than I'd wanted. My deep voice echoed around me through the tunnels. There was no response. I thought back to my dream for a split second. I remember feeling something pulling me down into the mud. Something big, that growled and hissed. Maybe drowning wasn't the only thing that had happened in my dream and real life.

I suddenly got a hold of myself. Was I feeling... fear? Me? Afraid? I'm Killer Croc! I almost became the kingpin of crime in Gotham City! I broke alligators in half with my bare hands! I'd fought Bane twice and tangled with Batman dozens of times! No giant fucking sewer rat was going to keep me down, much less scare me. Last time I checked, I could bench press seventy tons. No big genetic screw-up from the sewers could stop that! I thought back to all the guards I'd beaten and killed in this place, thinking back to Cash again. And Cash's hand. I heard my stomach growl again, and got an idea. If there really was something down here, I'd have something to eat. Cool. I chuckled to myself and lowered back down into the water. I sniffed the surface of the water, trying to find any scents. I sniffed around the claw marks too. I could smell something, but I couldn't pick it out. It was mixing in too well with the musty scent of the water and the slimy walls. Oh well. Either I'd find it, or it would find me, or I'd find my way out of here before either. It was good all around. Confident again, I decided to make my move. I followed the claw marks to the left. It would either lead me to my prey, or back to my marks. And I was already lost, so it didn't really matter. If anything, things just got a little more fun. I lowered myself back under the water and moved forward, this time trying to be as quiet as possible.

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_A/N: Dun-dun-duuuuuun! Sorry, I couldn't resist. This one is, as you can tell, quite a bit longer than Chapters 1 & 2. And Chapter 4 looks like it will be even longer. Now we have a much deeper look into our main character's past via a nightmare. And with that, he's gained his freedom (somewhat) and found something else to think about: the hunt. Is there a creature down there? And if there is, can Killer Croc take it down? Chapter 4 should be done soon. Thanks for reading! -War Journalist_


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

I was back at school. I tried to get comfortable in my little chair, but I couldn't. The wooden seat was so hard. All the other kids were still laughing at me. Chuckling, sniggering, pointing and whispering. It was making me mad now. I gritted my teeth and scowled at them, letting out a little growl too. They backed away, like I'd just pulled out a gun or something. Teacher stood in front of me in a flash. I looked up at her ugly face the same way. If she wasn't going to leave me alone and stop people from making fun of me, then she deserved the same treatment. She slapped her ruler down on my desk like a guillotine, almost hitting my fingers. Fear was creeping up on me. She tried to swat me again, but I put my hands under my desk. She brought her face right up to mine, her cold blue eyes staring daggers into mine. She looked even uglier up close. I could see all the horrible parts of her face. Her pale skin, that pointy nose, that mole on her cheek, her wrinkled forehead, and those eyes that just kept staring into me. It felt like she was burning a hole in my soul through my eyes.

After a few seconds that felt like hours, I couldn't take it anymore. Anger, fear, guilt, it was all building up inside me and I snapped. I slapped her face away. I heard the collective gasp of all the other kids. I saw a little red mark. I had hurt her! I felt a little proud of myself, but my pride was almost instantly consumed by fear and guilt. The room started to get dark, and Teacher started to glow red. Her hands grew into claws around the ruler. Her bundled-up hair came free and started to move around on its own. She was still facing the other direction, so I couldn't see her face, but I could see her left eye. It burned white hot, and those fireballs she had for irises moved back over me like a demon looking at something to be punished. My legs didn't want to move, but I had to get away! I pushed myself out of my chair and fell to the ground. I looked up at the other kids. They were still staring at me, and they were changing now too, just like Teacher. I mustered up all my courage and stood up, heading straight out the door as I had before. This time I could hear the nonsense behind me. I looked back and saw everyone was following me, burning all the bushes and trees as their demonic forms chased me down. The nonsense sounded so deep, like the Devil himself was saying it. The sound was overwhelming me with guilt and fear and sadness. I wanted to go home!

I kept running, desperate to find my way back to the only safe place; my little house on the bayou. I ran as fast as I could, again passing the sign that told me I was going the right way. I slipped in the mud again, but my fear of whatever was in that mud and the monsters behind me only fueled me to go faster. It felt like my limbs were on fire, and my heart was about to burst out of my mouth from my heavy breathing. But soon enough I could see my house, silhouetted against the darkening sky. There was a light on in the window for me. I could hear the voices and monsters still following behind me and picked up the pace for the final stretch. The door opened and Auntie stood there, waving at me. Her wide shadow shone against the light coming from the house. Auntie would know what to do. She would know how to stop making me feel so bad! After what felt like miles, I ran up and grabbed her, wrapping my arms around her big poofy blue dress. It was so warm and soothing. The monsters and the nonsense faded away as I buried myself in the blue cloth.

When I looked up again, we were in the house and the lights were dimmed. I realized I was now laying on the floor, grabbing the edges of her dress that hung off of her big green comfy chair. I looked up at her. She was drinking something from a big brown bottle, and it was dripping down her face and staining her nice clean dress. I tried to ask her what she was doing and why. She wiped her mouth with her arm, dirtying the dress more and looked down at me. She... she looked just like Teacher had. She looked so angry, and her face started to change. She screamed at me, the nonsense! "NO!" I screamed. How could this be happening? It wasn't supposed to follow me here. Not here! Not the only place I'd be safe! I felt the wind knocked out of me as she kicked me away onto my back. I screamed at myself in my head to run away, but I couldn't. My arms and legs were frozen in fear, and guilt, and surprise at what had happened. I watched as Auntie lifted the brown bottle back to her face and emptied the black tar-like substance into her mouth, only making her change more.

She lifted her arm up to throw the bottle and I moved back to try and avoid it. The glass shattered into a million pieces all over the wooden floor, the sound echoing all around me as the shards just missed me. She stood up from the chair and started walking toward me, screaming that nonsense in her high-pitched voice and staring down at me with those burning white eyes. I turned and scrambled to my feet so I could run. But my legs were so tired I couldn't move right. I felt her kick me in the back and send me sprawling toward a doorway. I didn't want to go in there. It was dark. I turned to look up at her while laying on my left side, wanting to beg her not to do it.

But before I could say anything, her foot came up and kicked me in the chest, knocking all the air out of my lungs and rolling me over and over into the other room. I held my dizzied head and once again moved to lay on my left side to face her. The room was completely black; no light at all. I tried to get up, but suddenly everything was flipped; I wasn't laying down on the wooden floor of my house, I was leaning against the cold hard wall of a sewer. The water was deep and freezing. I couldn't see anything in front or behind me. There could be anything down here with me! Auntie stood over me through the doorway. The only light I could see was coming from the room behind her, and she was going to close the door; take away the light. Tears stung my eyes as my pleading drowned out the nonsense she was screaming. The last thing I saw was her horrible face staring down at me with those burning eyes before she shut the door, & all the light disappeared, leaving me alone in the darkness. Terror gripped me as all the light let go. I couldn't see. I was cold, and a tired, and frightened. I couldn't take my eyes away from looking straight ahead. There was something there. Something watching me from the blackness. I heard a low chuckle and saw an outline. It looked like a giant! I heard that horrible hiss, and saw the monster's massive arm reach toward me!

I snapped awake & sat up with a gasp. I breathed quickly for a few seconds, letting the terror of my nightmare work through me and fade away in the face of the real world. There didn't seem to be much of a difference between that darkness in my dream, and the darkness of this damn sewer. But it really was just another nightmare. I convinced myself of it. I laid my head back against the wall again. I was sitting on the walkway now, with my legs hanging over into the water like a bench on a flooded street. I barely remembered falling asleep. I'd just wanted to sit down and rest for a bit. This stupid darkness was playing Hell with my mind. I usually liked to stay out at night, where no one could see me, but even I could only last so long. For all I knew, I'd been down here for days already. And who knew how long my little 'naps' lasted. But I was awake now. Wide awake. And it was time to get moving. I had to get out of here. I slipped off the walkway back into the musty water. I hadn't been stupid this time. As tired as I was, I'd marked which way I was going this time. I raised my hand and ran it over the wall where I'd been sleeping. I felt the marks I'd made; an arrow pointing in the right direction. Good. I lowered my arm and slipped back down into the water, moving forward once again.

I thought back to the creature in my dream. I'd tried to block out most of my childhood memories, but I was certain I'd never found a monster before. Probably just a figment of my imagination. Everybody gets scared of the dark when they're stupid little kids. Besides, now I'm twice the size of whatever that was. I could probably take it. I imagined myself standing over the downed body of that shadow monster, with little me clinging to my leg. Me, a hero for once. But as big as I was, it still chilled my bones to think about it. Like some instinctual terror, the way deer fear wolves. I tried not to think about it, and doing so reminded me: I probably wasn't alone down here. I had to keep focused in case something decided to jump out at me. I came to another four-way intersection. As I turned to the left, making my mark, I thought of ways I could catch and kill whatever this thing might be. I had moves for just about any situation. I used to wrestle alligators after all, and they were mean sons of bitches. But I broke their backs, one after another, which was why I started calling myself 'Killer Croc.'

I tried thinking about my old moves in my head to keep focused, but they were practically second nature to me now. My mind wandered back to my dream; how sad I was to be locked down in the sewer. Jesus, that was a long time ago. I remembered the sewers being my best friend. I'd always hide in there when I was being chased. Nobody would follow me there. I remember I overcame my fear of monsters because it was such a good hiding spot. The rest of the world may have tried to fuck me over, but the sewers always welcomed me back. And that stayed true for pretty much my whole life. Every time something went wrong, I could climb right back down and be safe, and at peace. I remembered that one time after robbing a store, I found a secret underground highway in the sewers. And there were a bunch of homeless people living down there. Others who'd been screwed up and cast out by this twisted society. There were some good people down there. They weren't afraid. For once in my life, nobody hated me. Nobody was afraid or teased me. I even made a few friends among them. It was so great, I even thought about giving up crime for good. I could have lived my whole life down there with those people. People... just like me. Under the skin of course.

But then Batman found me, and screwed everything up! He couldn't leave well enough alone, could he? He had to track me down and ruin my one chance at a quiet life because I stole a few trinkets from a shopping mall! We must have scared the Hell out of those people when we fought. I wish I could remember their names. And then the sewers flushed out and nearly drowned everyone. Fortunately me and the Bat got everyone out all right. Even if I got swept away afterward, at least no one else had. I tried to find those people again. Those nice people. But I never did. They were gone. Probably shipped off to a shelter somewhere. I ended up just skulking around the alleyways for days. I tried to look for help, but everyone just screamed at me. Called me a monster. All those people, with their suits and ties, and fancy cars. People living the high life that most only dreamed of. People who could have anything they wanted, yet they were assholes with no compassion. No understanding or care beyond what they could see. They just...

I snapped out of my internal rant. I heard something. Something had splashed around just ahead of me. It was only for a second, but I know I heard it. I picked up my pace beneath the water, still trying to make as little noise as possible. I reached the intersection and made my way to the left again; the direction I'd heard the noise come from. As hard as I was trying to concentrate, I was so excited, so on-edge to finally find whatever was down here with me. I sniffed the air, and there was definitely a new scent, but I just couldn't place it. I didn't hear anything more as I approached the spot. Even the dripping off in the distance seemed to stop. I looked around, squinting furiously to try and see something; maybe a shifting shadow. Only then did my disadvantage occur to me. Whatever was down here, whatever could have survived to grow big enough to make those marks, could move around this place easily. It had to be able to see in the dark. So even if it was right in front of me, I wouldn't know it was there until it was too late.

Just then I felt something under the water. My heart practically thumped against my ribcage, thinking I'd bumped into the creature standing right in front of me. My foot had touched something big and hard. It felt cold like metal, still not completely warmed by the water around it. Without looking away from my surroundings, I reached down with my hand and grabbed the object. I was getting even more restless now, excited just to have finally found something down here! I ran my hand over it. It wasn't covered in muck like the rest of the bottom of the sewer, so it had to have been put here recently. I felt around it a little more and found that it was circular. A toilet seat, maybe? This was a sewer after all. I grabbed the object around the edge and lifted it up through the water so I could hold it comfortably with both hands. I rolled it over and over in my hands. It felt like steel. And there were screws... Ah, Jesus Christ, it was just my fucking collar! I'd gone in a complete circle! My lip twitched in frustration momentarily as I thought more carefully. I knew the sound had come from here. And it couldn't have just been my collar falling into the water; I'd dropped it in. So that meant whatever was down here must have been by here, just now! And it probably knew I was down here now, too if my claw marks hadn't already tipped it off.

I dropped the collar back down to the bottom of the water, and pressed onward at a slightly quicker pace. It had to have gone down the tunnel this way, otherwise I would have caught it. I was even more anxious now than before. I sniffed the air, and actually caught a scent! It was the same faint scent I'd smelled around the claw marks, but it was standing out more now. It was stronger, like I was getting close. Now I was hunting. I pushed myself through the water, trying hard to hold back from just standing up and dashing madly through the sewers after this thing. I felt something tap against the top of my right shoulder that just peeked above the surface of the water.

I almost hadn't felt it. I immediately stopped, again excited to finally find something. It couldn't have just been a rock, because it wouldn't be floating. I moved my right hand up through the water carefully, and slowly until I reached the surface just in front of my shoulder, feeling around just beneath the surface for the object. Until I found it. I was thin and long, or wide, and as I wrapped my hand around it, I felt a few sharp edges to it. Maybe the creature was a lizard, and this was a scale or a piece of shed skin. I brought it right up to my face so I could examine it with both hands while my eyes desperately scanned for anything that might point to the creature. This thing had curves on either end of it. I held it with both hands. It felt like it was actually even on both sides. The points and the curves were even, except for one point in the center. It kind of felt like a great big arrowhead. I grabbed the point at the bottom that sat in the exact middle and ran my hands over the...top... No fucking way. It couldn't be.

I held the object again in both hands so that I could feel all of it. It was. It was one of Batman's boomerangs. Now I recognized the scent. It was him! Batman was down here! But how? I'd blocked the entrance! Did he find another way in?! I felt my eyes widen in my skull, just thinking about everything this implied. He was down here. He must have followed me, maybe snuck in while I was sleeping. But why? He was running away from me back in my lair. He set the bomb and made the hole that dropped me down here in the first place... wait a second. He must have set this whole thing up! This thing could have made those marks on the wall, trying to imitate mine. And he could have released some kind of gas into the air down here to make me tired! My almost drowning, the sounds... He dropped me down here just so he could torment me; repay me for all the thing's I'd done. I'd heard of Batman interrogating and maybe even torturing people, but this was twisted. That sick fuck! He really was no better than the rest of the freaks in this place! My hands clamped over the boomerang imitating his bat signal; crushing, bending, warping, and snapping it to pieces in my rage. The sharp points pressing and cutting into my palms only made it more satisfying. It only made me hate him more. My teeth gritted tightly against each other, and I felt my face warp in cold, hard, fury. He would die for this.

I put the mangled thing to my nose and took a good whiff, enough to cement that scent in my brain so I could track him even through these black sewers. I lowered the thing back under the water to the rope that held my pants up as a makeshift belt, and secured it there, just in case I needed another whiff, or I decided to bludgeon the Dark Knight to death with his own toy. I moved forward more hastily this time. I could hear the water rippling lightly behind me, but my senses were higher than his, and I'd become accustomed to the silence here. He wouldn't be able to here me coming. He'd pissed it off, now it was time to feed the Croc. Tic-toc, Batman. Tic-toc.

* * *

A/N: Tic-toc indeed. This story certainly is winding down. I won't promise an ending in the next chapter, because I'm horrible at doing that. I am really really happy about how this chapter turned out. I hope you liked it too, of course. What is a writer without readers, after all? Please comment comment COMMENT! Let me know how I'm doing! Is this croc a killer, or a crock of sh*t? Let me know! I'll say it again, I take all forms of reviews! Thanks so much for reading, and have a nice day! -War Journalist


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter Five

I moved through the dark sewers, following the scent of my prey. Batman. He'd escaped me once. I would not let that happen again. My feet pushed hard against the mucky bottom of the sewer while my hands moved against the part of the walkways that were underwater, moving me along at a quick, but quiet pace. I concentrated on every move I made so I didn't slip or make noise any louder than a whisper. I was straining all my senses for any hint of the Bat's presence. Once I found him, I'd give him the beating of his life and make him tell me how to get out of here. Then I'd pull him apart piece by piece. Surprisingly enough, though, I didn't feel excited. I wasn't twitching with anticipation. It didn't feel like a long-awaited Christmas present, but more like a mission. A mission of hate made from years and years of meddling. A mission who's success had that kind of satisfaction you could wait an eternity for.

At this point, I didn't bother marking my trail. I just followed the scent I'd gotten from the boomerang. I must have made a dozen turns already. My eyelids were heavy, but my hatred out-weighed my tiredness. If I fell asleep now, he could get to me; wipe away his scent and take back his toy so I couldn't find him. Or he could try to drown me again. But as long as I stayed awake, he wouldn't have the chance and I'd have nothing to be afraid of. There I went again, thinking that I could be afraid of something. Thinking that I should be afraid of something. I reminded myself again that I was the one chasing Batman, not the other way around. He was a afraid of me, if anything. And if he wasn't, he should be. I wasn't the type to gloat over a kill before I'd made it, like Joker or Nygma. I wasn't in it for the fame of beating him. I was in it just for beating him. And when I found him...

Suddenly I heard another splash, just up ahead of me. I hadn't heard anything for a while, so it took me a bit my surprise, but I'd been waiting for it, and I was ready. I sped up just a bit, still concentrating on staying steady. I licked my jaws as I neared the spot. I was so hungry. I normally didn't like eating people. I talked like that just to scare everyone. Cash was a mistake. So was that doctor who'd tried to help me. But at this point I felt hungry enough to eat anything. As I approached, I heard another little splash, louder this time, just a bit further down the tunnel. My heartbeat was pounding now, I could barely restrain myself as I moved even quicker this time. There was another splash, followed by what sounded like a gasp, right in front of me! My control snapped and I erupted out of the water. "YOU'RE MINE!" I roared, lunging forward to grab my prey. I heard another splash to my right just before I landed back in the water. He must have dodged. I slashed to my right, connecting with nothing, but hearing another splash to my left. I swung again, still missing. I heard another trail of splashing in front of me, like he was running away. Caution to the wind, I charged forward, chasing him through the sewer.

After a few seconds of hard running, I stopped. I couldn't hear anything. The splashing was gone. The only thing I heard was my own heavy breathing and heartbeat. Where the fuck did he go?! If he had stopped, I would be right on top of him! I stretched my arms out to scan the area between me and the walls. But the walls were gone. I was at an intersection. Shit! He could be anywhere! I frantically sniffed the air, trying to find his scent again so I could follow it to him. But it was gone! I heard another splash come from my right and turned to follow it. But another came from behind me, and another from somewhere else. What the Hell was going on here?! "Where are you?!" I growled. My deep voice echoed around me, coming back at me from every direction. As the tunnels grew quiet again, I heard something. It wasn't a splash, though. It sounded like a voice. I heard it again, but I couldn't tell where it was coming from. It sounded like... like cackling. Every time I turned to face the source, it seemed to move. The tunnels were making it echo all over, as it slowly got louder. It was annoying the Hell out of me, and I couldn't hold back a savage roar. "RAAAAH! WHERE ARE YOU, BATMAN?!" The laughing only got louder, drowning out my voice before the tunnels went quiet again. It was like he was taunting me; playing against my temper and leading me on a wild goose chase!

As I tried to hold my anger back, a thought occurred to me. Batman never laughed. He never laughed at all. He used scare tactics, but this was just too much. As a matter of fact, playing hide-and-seek wasn't Batman's way either, at least whenever I'd fought him. He was too good for that. Too snappy. Too 'by-the-book.' He wouldn't waste time pissing me off when he could have just tried to knock me out. Hell, I was already trapped down here! There was no point! In fact, the more I thought about this whole situation, the more it brought to mind another guy I knew. A sadistic calculating little punk that liked to watch people suffer. And my nightmares only made me think about that person more. It made sense. He probably followed me down here to get revenge by poisoning me with that fear toxin shit. "CRANE?!" I growled. Hatred coursed through my veins and I felt like my blood was boiling. Scarecrow, that mother fucker! He'd tricked me! He stole one of Batman's boomerangs to make me think he was behind all this! He was just like everyone else in this world. He thought he was better than me, putting me down, laughing at me! He was just like those rich people from before; he was afraid of me. He thought I was nothing more than a big, dumb, angry, monster to study and torture like a science project! Well, if he wanted a monster, he'd get one!

I roared and swung my right arm around, smashing into one of the corners of the intersection. I ripped a chunk from it and tossed it down one of the tunnels, hearing it smash into the wall. I swung around again, punching another corner with my left hand and causing the concrete to shatter. I reached up above me and grabbed a bunch of the rusted pipes in each hand and ripped them off the ceiling. I bent and crushed them in my hands, snapping a few in-two and throwing them down the tunnels, raising the sounds of metal sliding against stone as I tried to find my enemy. I gripped the ones I had left like bats and swung them around, smacking them against the walls of the sewer. The metal bent & broke, screeching as it was otherwise destroyed in my grip. All the ones in my left hand were ruined, so I grabbed the ones in my right with both hands and began beating them relentlessly against the closest wall, roaring in frustration as I did. With every blow came the thought of everyone who'd ever looked down at me. Crane, Batman, Cash, the doctors, the mob bosses, the people of Gotham, all the way back to the kids who pointed and laughed at me in school. Tommy Foley, Julia DuPree, Richie Card, and all the others I couldn't remember!

After a few minutes my rage finally started to subside. My breathing and heartbeat again pounded in my ears. My arms ached again, and felt like they were shaking. I dropped the metal pipes, letting them splash into the water at my feet. I leaned my left hand against the wall I'd just obliterated, while holding my right hand to my chest to calm me down. More cackling came, more quietly this time. Mocking me just to rile me up again and waste my energy. But as much as I wanted to believe it was that little freak Crane, something just didn't add up. If it were him, he would have used his fear toxin on me. He was too cowardly not to. But I was still just seeing darkness, not hallucinating monsters. I couldn't be under the effects of his toxin. And if I wasn't injected with the toxin, I should have been able to smell his rotten stench and the blood from the wound I'd given him. Plus, Crane was a smart-guy; a talker. If I'd figured him out, why was he still just laughing? Why wasn't he taunting me? None of this made any sense! "Just what the Hell are you?" I breathed quietly, half to myself and half to this thing.

I heard the cackling again. It was closer this time. It sounded like it was coming from a tunnel behind me. It felt like something was creeping up on me. I tensed all my aching muscles, and strained all my senses. I braced myself for a counter-move if it came at me from behind. The few seconds of silence that followed felt unnervingly-long. The sudden splash made me snap. I spun around and lunged forward; my left hand going for the bat-boomerang under my belt, and my right hand outstretched, ready to rip something apart. This would end NOW!

My head exploded in pain as I smashed into the corner, knocking the wind out of my lungs and the thoughts out of my head. I heard more bits of concrete shake loose as I fell to my left and landed on my side on the walkway. Unable to control myself through my savagely-painful dizziness, I rolled to my left again and fell off the walkway into the water, quickly losing consciousness. The cackling echoed quietly around me again as I sank below the surface.

* * *

_A/N: I tried as hard as I possibly could to make that not seem comical. Croc is in quite the predicament. So just what the f*ck is really going on here? Is this all a master trap incorporated by Scarecrow for revenge and study? Is someone else present beneath the Asylum? Is the man who calls himself Killer Croc finally losing his mind? Or is it something bigger? Read the final chapter to find out..._


	6. The End

Chapter Six

At first there was only darkness and pain. Like my head was being crushed under a steamroller. Then came the thumping. It was rhythmic; constant, but it sounded like it was being hampered. It sounded like my heartbeat. Between the thumps I saw flashes, like an old black-and-white movie. I saw all the children laughing at me, making fun of the way I looked and talked. I realized that they were hampered too. It was like someone turned the volume down. I saw my old teacher smacking me with her ruler. Then I was outside on the little playground. Everyone was staring at me, like I didn't belong. They started throwing things at me. Dirt, rocks, pencils, paper balls... I saw myself running away from them, but they were chasing me. My head felt like it was going to burst with the pain. But there was another kind of pain moving in. It felt strange, yet so familiar. I couldn't place it as my memories moved forward. I was running down the dirt path into the woods. I heard them screaming at me, and this strange pain started growing in my chest.

I ran down the path between the trees, pushing away the moss that fell down from the branches. When I came out of the trees, the sky was dark, and the screaming people were gone. I continued down the trail & soon I saw my little house, with the swamp off in the distance behind it. I followed the light glowing from the window, letting it guide me in. I opened the door, so happy to be home and away from those horrible people. But my happiness washed away when I saw Auntie sitting in her chair. She was drinking again. And from how many bottles there were on the floor, she'd been at it for a while. I tried to back out of the house slowly, so she wouldn't notice me. But she got up and grabbed my arm. I tried to pull away, but her free hand slapped me across the face. That strange pain was growing again, building up.

She screamed at me. I couldn't hear her between my heartbeat and the pain in my chest and head, but somehow I felt like I deserved it, and that pain grew again. I didn't want to look at her, so I just stared down at the ground. Partly because of the pain, and partly because she scared me. She slapped me again and pulled me into the house, muttering as she squeezed my arm. I felt like I couldn't control myself. I watched my feet as they looked like they were moving on auto-pilot over the wooden floor. She dragged me across the living room to the other doorway. Despite all this pain I felt hollow inside. I knew I didn't want to go in that room, but I couldn't resist her. I heard her growl and mutter something at me about teaching me a lesson as she pulled the creaky door open. She looked back at me, but I looked down again to avoid her eyes. She tightened her grip on my arm and pulled me in front of her before throwing me into the room. As I flew through the air, everything started spinning, causing my head to ache even more. Suddenly the wooden floor was gone, along with the furniture. Instead of landing on even ground I fell down, down, down into the blackness. I landed head-first in foul murky water, drifting down toward the bottom.

I opened my eyes again and lifted myself from the bottom to stand in the knee-high water, aware of the splitting headache that wall had given me. I was in the sewer again. This infinite darkness surrounded me just like the water did. What a nightmare, I thought as I raised a hand to my head to relieve the pain. I could see myself! I could see my soaked orange pants, my belt, and my hands. I looked up for the source of light and saw the doorway. Auntie was staring down at me, with those cold, uneven, disapproving eyes. It couldn't be real! Suddenly the light behind her brightened, forcing me to put my large hands up to protect my eyes. I light lowered again, and I pulled my hands apart to look through them. The doorway was still there, but it was steel this time. It had locks built into it and a little window in the top. It wasn't Auntie anymore, though. It was Cash. Suddenly I felt that pain return to my chest, stronger than ever. He stared down at me with a mix of fear and revulsion. He raised up his right hand for me to see. The hand that was now just a metal prosthetic claw. The light glinted off the limb and blinded me again. I raised my hands and again, the light lowered. But when I looked back up, there was no door. Just jagged rocks, like I was staring through a hole that wasn't meant to be there. And standing above it, staring down at me from beneath that black mask, was Batman. His eyes looked white, like a demon's eyes, staring coldly down at me with this hint of disgust. The pain in my chest grew as I stared into those eyes, like I was being drawn into a trance. I was afraid.

Suddenly everything shook like an earthquake. I fought to keep my balance, to keep looking up toward the light. Batman or not, I wanted to get out of here! They could keep me locked in the asylum, I just wanted to get out of these sewers! I heard stone crumbling up above and watched large rocks fall down from the ceiling above Batman. But they didn't fall through the hole. They just slammed into some invisible barrier and covered it. In just a few seconds, the shaking stopped. The rocks covered the hole, cutting off the light and throwing me back into darkness. No! I dashed forward to the wall where the hole had been, running my hands all over it to find a way through. But all I felt was the slimy, cold concrete. "No!" I screamed, banging my hands against the wall. "No, no, NO!" I repeated, pounding my fists against the wall attempting to break through. But all that did was knock bits and pieces from the ceiling and walls. The hole was gone, like it had never been there at all.

I backed away from the wall, my breathing panicked. Between my splitting headache, the sound of my heart beating a million miles an hour, my exhaustion, and this damn strange pain in my chest, I was in a frenzy! I fell backward on to the walkway and sat there, covering my face in my hands trying to get a hold on myself. What the Hell was going on?! Was I losing my mind? After all the years telling those quacks I wasn't crazy, was I finally being proven wrong?! I tried to calm my breathing down, but these strange mental and physical pains were driving me nuts! I was... I was afraid! I was scared out of my mind! My breathing was shallow, coming out in just gasps now. And my arms were shaking as I tried to handle myself.

And then the laughter started again. The cackling. It surrounded me. And I remembered. Scarecrow! Crane! He was doing this to me! It certainly felt like his twisted fear toxin. But it was more powerful than I'd ever imagined. All these different pains and feeling kept running through me like they were in my blood, filling me up. But as the laughing continued, I kept thinking back to Crane. And something familiar began working its way into my disoriented brain: anger. I felt myself shaking and lowered my hands from my face. My fingers twitched as I bared my claws. It felt like rage was taking everything I was feeling, and mixing it together in some kind of insane gumbo, and it was boiling up inside me. All I could think of was Crane. How he was laughing at me now, like everyone else had all my life. And then what I'd do to him. Kill him, break him, tear his flesh and watch him scream in I knew it I was on my feet, madly charging through the black sewers like a freight train. I heard the water erupting in my wake, washing over the sewers like a tidal wave. "CRAAAAAANE!" I roared, unable to hold myself back now. I charged through the sewers, slashing at the walls, ripping down pipes, shattering the concrete corners in search of the little monster who was torturing me. Thoughts of eating him invaded my mind. Biting him, ripping his flesh from his bones before breaking them in my teeth, letting his blood follow his skin down like gravy.

But my rage was slipping away, leaving me tired and aching. I slowed to a stop as everything I had just tried to run away from came back at me full-force. The headache, the shakes, my rushing heartbeat, and this horrible feeling in my chest! I stopped and fell down to one knee in the water, laying my arms down on the walkway. "What do you want from me, Crane?!" "You still think I'm that weakling Scarecrow?" My veins filled with ice at the response I hadn't expected. The voice was so deep, yet so raspy. "What?" was all I could manage to whisper. Despite how quiet I had been, the strange voice spoke yet again. "You really don't know who I am yet? You're dumber than I thought. Maybe this will help."

Suddenly I saw a flash that seemed to wipe everything away. When I blinked again, I wasn't in the sewer anymore. I was in a corridor in Arkham Asylum. The lights on the walls were flashing, indicating an emergency. I looked down at my hands, and saw they were covered with blood. Confused, I looked around for some sign of what was going on. As I looked to my left my eyes fell upon someone laying against the wall, breathing hard and screaming in pain. It was Aaron Cash. He was holding his right arm and shaking. It was covered in blood, with his hand hidden beneath his sleeve... oh no! I looked back down to my bloodied hands and saw the puddle forming on the floor. I saw my reflection in the velvet puddle. I had blood streaming down all over me... from my mouth. I gasped. But the instant I realized where I was, and when I was, the light flashed and I was back in the dark sewer.

"Remember me now?" asked the strange voice. But I was still in a panic, and could only guess. "C..Cash? You're doing all this?" I heard a low growl in reply before the voice spoke again. "Hrrr... I guess I'll just have to show you." Suddenly I heard splashing; footsteps in the water, just ahead of me. I looked up, not knowing what to expect. As if it were walking into a spotlight, the figure started to appear. The skin on its chest was sickly pale and patterned, like it just came of a waffle-iron. Its arms were huge and gray-green. The skin looked like it was made out of rock. It had huge claws coming from its ugly fingers. I followed the outline as the arms connected to giant broad shoulders, which connected to a short neck, which finally connected to a face. Its eye were small and yellow, glowing like a jack-o-lantern. It didn't have ears or a nose to speak of; like they were cut off from the coconut-shaped head. And its mouth was huge. It was spread wide open in a horrid grin, with teeth as long and sharp as razor blades. My initial terror was fading away, replaced with shock. I stood up and looked back at the monster. It was... me!

The massive jaws opened, and the cackling I'd been hearing escaped between the teeth, followed by the voice. "Hahahaha. Bingo" the creature said. As tortured and full as my mind was, it felt like it was twisting and contorting like a sponge being rinsed, trying to figure out what was happening. "I don't understand" I breathed somewhat calmly. "The claw marks..." I began. "They were yours, you fool. You were going in circles" it responded. I reached down to my belt and wrapped my hand around the bat-boomerang. But before I could even speak, it replied. "Batman threw it at your collar, and it got stuck there. It came out when you took it off, stupid." Suddenly it all seemed so clear. But this still didn't make any sense. "Who are you?" I asked, unable to think of anything else to say.

The creature with my face folded its arms at its chest and stared at me. "I'm you. I'm Killer Croc" It explained. This did nothing to ease my torment. The terrible feeling in my chest was growing again, thumping like my heartbeat. "No. I'm Killer Croc" I said, unsure of myself. "Hopefully you will be soon" the creature said. "What're you talking about?" "You're a monster, Waylon." The comment hit me like a brick to the face. "You're a monster, and it's time you realize it." This thing was starting to make me angry again. "You don't know anything about me!" I growled. "Oh, don't I? Come on, you know you love it. Killing someone; watching them die by your claws is more satisfying to you than anything." "LIAR!" I roared, throwing a punch to the left. It backed away, dodging my fist. I threw another to the right, but it grabbed my arm and kicked me hard in the gut, making me almost double-over in pain. I looked up again and threw my other hand at him. But he dodged again, leaving me to just punch the wall. I growled again as my anger boiled up.

"That's right, come on! Get angry! Let the real you out!" I pulled my fist out of the wall and tried to think through the tsunami of pain in my head. Getting angry was exactly what it wanted me to do. It was so strong and fast... I couldn't beat it in a fight. "Come on, Waylon..." it taunted. "Become the animal." I didn't know what to do. I couldn't think straight anymore. It was all just a blur of pain and fear. So I did the only thing I could think of. I turned and ran. "Aw, come on. You really think running will get you anywhere?" I heard it call after me as I rushed down the tunnels. There had to be some way out of here! There had to be a way out of this Hell! I turned a corner, but he was standing there waiting for me, leaning casually against a wall. "You can't run away from yourself, Waylon." I turned down another tunnel, desperate to get away from this... this... thing! But every word it said echoed down the tunnel, following me. It startled laughing again, cackling away at me. But soon it didn't sound like laughing anymore. It was just a blur of words that made that pain in my chest thump and burn. It was... the nonsense! No!

I thought back to my nightmares. Being chased away by everyone, screaming it at me. Auntie, Teacher, the kids, the people of Gotham, everyone! I thought back to everyone I'd killed; everyone I'd hurt. Cash, that doctor, those guards, even the kids that had made fun of me at school that I'd killed. Every single one! Even Batman. The pain built up in my chest like it was going to explode out of me as I ran. But I finally knew what it was. Guilt. I felt the heavy weight on my heart and my mind, putting my hands to the side of my head. "I'M SORRY!" I roared. "I'M SORRY FOR EVERYTHING I'VE DONE! I DON'T WANT TO BE A MONSTER!" "Oh, but it's too late, Waylon" came the voice from everywhere. "It's too late to apologize. You can't change who you are." I reached the end of the tunnel and turned to follow it to the left. But he was standing there, moving toward me. I stopped to face him, seeing that there was no way to avoid him. "All you can do is let it take you over. There's no fighting it." As I stared at this monster in front of me, this thing that I could not escape, everything seemed to weigh down on me. He was right. I couldn't go on. All the pain. and fear, and guilt from all the horrible things I'd done made me snap. I was too tired. Just too tired. I fell down to my knees in front of the creature. For the first time in the longest time, I felt warm tears fall down my scaly cheeks. "I... I just wanted to be normal. I just wanted to have a life like everyone else. I wanted to be respected like everyone else. I just wanted to be human."

I felt the creature move right up to me and place its clawed hand on top of my head. "And that's what makes you weak" it breathed in its deep raspy voice. I felt the hand clamp around my head before being kneed in the face, knocking me backwards into the water. "You want to be human?!" it growled angrily. I tried to raise myself back up. I made it to one knee before it wrapped its hand around my neck. "You want to be normal?!" It punched me in the chest, stealing my breath. "That's not how you get money! That's not how you get respect! That's not how you get power!" It lifted me up off my feet and growled as it through me down the tunnel to smash against a wall. Bits of the concrete plopped into the water as I tried to crawl away. I had to get away. I had to get out of here. I heard it splashing through the water a it came up behind me.

"In this world, you either live by their rules, or die by them." I felt it kick me in the side, knocking me against the wall. "And they've all ruled you out as a murderer. A cannibal. A monster." I climbed off the walkway into the water, and mustered everything I had left to stand up. Every muscle in my body screamed in pain. My mind was going numb with aching dizziness and fatigue. But I stood up anyway. I couldn't do anything else. There was no place left to run. "And that's the only way you're ever going to win, Waylon. Give up and accept it. Be the monster they all think you are. Be the monster everyone in this world KNOWS you are." Again I thought back to those kids, the citizens of Gotham, the doctors, Cash, the mob, even Batman. They all hated and laughed at him. He was right. I couldn't change anything. "All right. You win" I said. "That's right. That's a good Croc. Surrender to me. Surrender to the beast." I felt the creature's hands on my shoulders, followed by a strange sensation. It felt like he was... melding into me. I felt myself giving up. My thoughts of humanity were being drowned out by savage growls, killing instincts, and cannibalistic hungers.

But as I felt myself falling down into that deepest darkness, something strange began to happen. My memories ran over in my mind yet again, but they were different. I thought back to those people in the sewer. The only ones who didn't hate me. I thought back to the kindness they'd shown me; welcoming me down there, offering me a spot in their group, talking to me like I was just a regular joe, instead of a big hulking monster. I thought back to the people in the circus who took me in after I ran away from home, treated me like a brother. Like I belonged. They taught me about life, and living it. They taught me about good and evil. They taught me about love and... forgiveness. I remembered something the ringmaster once told me. "The path down the evil road is easy. The path back isn't quite as simple. But if you try hard enough; if you really want it, there's always a light at the end of the tunnel. There's always forgiveness, even if it takes you down to the bowels of Hell itself. There's always a way back to the light. Who you are is your decision. No one else." I hadn't really understood what he'd said way back then, but those words definitely clicked in my brain now. I didn't have to be a monster just because that's what everyone thought of me. I could be whatever I wanted. My life was my choice, and I was making it.

I opened my eyes and stared back at the monster in front of me, grinning confidently. I lifted my aching right arm and grabbed its left wrist. I did the same with my left arm. "What are you doing?" it breathed. With all my might I pulled its arms out of me, breaking the connection before raising my leg and kicking it away from me, back into the water. It raised itself back up from the water to kneel in front of me, holding its chest. "How dare you!" it growled at me. "Game's over, creep. I win. You lose." "You can't defy me! You can't hold back what you really are!" I was tired of listening to this asshole talk. "What I am is what I want to be. Nothing else. And definitely not you. At least, not anymore. You freak." Its yellow eyes widened and began to glow red. Its claws grew and curved, and its scales grew jagged and sharp. "FREAK, AM I?!" It came at with with an angry grunt, but I managed to lock my hands with its. As I stared into those evil red pits, I felt something new growing inside me. It pushed aside my guilt and my pain, filling me with something positive I couldn't describe. "I'm your inevitable conclusion, Waylon. I'm the ultimate you!" It grunted through its teeth at me, trying to break my grip. But I held strong. "Maybe. But that's my choice!" I pulled both my hands to the left along with its, and smashed my head into its face, sending it reeling backward. It hurt like a motherfucker, but I pushed through it. I had to win this.

It growled and punched me in the side of the face. I grabbed its wrist and threw a punch right back, knocking it into the wall. It leaped at me, jaws wide open. I let training kick in. I dodged to my left, lifting my right arm so its head went beneath my arm. I brought it back down and wrapped it around its head, trapping it. I grabbed its shoulder with my left hand and lifted it off the ground just high enough to turn and swing it through the air and release it. I felt the tunnel shake around me with the force, feeling and hearing chunks of concrete fall from the walls and ceiling. As it pulled itself away from the wall, great big slabs and chunks of the concrete came off the wall, falling into the water. Its breathing was ragged, and its growls were strained by pain. I back up to the opposite wall, putting my right put against the walkway. I reached down to my belt and grabbed the warped bat-arang, holding it like a knife in front of me. The creature looked up at me. "What are you doing?!" I braced myself before replying. "Choosing!" I roared as I kicked off the wall and charged forward, smashing my shoulder and stabbing the jagged bat-arang into this monster with my face. But as we both crushed against the concrete wall, I felt something was wrong.

The wall gave way under the force, sending us both through it into a blinding light. I felt myself falling through the air, and heard the nonsense once more; some strange, loud sound coming from below. I tightened my grip around the beast in my grasp. "If I must go to Hell, I'm taking you with me!" Only seconds after speaking, I felt myself smack into something hard below me. All sound disappeared as I felt burning all around me. But after a few seconds, the sensation became familiar, and I opened my eyes. This wasn't Hell. And I wasn't burning. It was the ocean, and I was freezing! I looked around the watery depths to find the creature I had been fighting. Seeing nothing, I gave up and swam to the surface, breaking through the top of the water and taking in a deep breath. Suddenly the world came back to me. I could smell the salty sea air; hear the waves crashing; see the lighthouse turning around and around to guide ships into safe harbor. But I was still bewildered. What happened to me?

I looked up at the wall of rock that served as a cliff at the edge of the island. There was a hole maybe fifty feet above the water. It must have been a weak wall, built decades ago before the sea eroded the rock away from the island. But I didn't think on it long. I was FREE! Free at last! I felt so happy, I could have hugged Batman if he were here. Well, maybe not. But it felt so good! I felt like I was alive again. The cool ocean was such a relief from the dingy, musty tunnels. It felt good to see light again; to see the moon again! I leaned backward to float on my back and began to laugh. I was so happy, I couldn't think of anything else to do! I just laid there and started to lazily backstroke away from the island.

As I began to calm down, I looked up to see the docks of the island behind me to my right. I saw the flashing blue and red lights of the Gotham PD. Thankfully I was too far away for them to see me as I hefted myself up to sit on a rock sticking up from the water. Never had I been so happy to see lights! Especially those lights! That must mean that Joker's plan failed again. I knew it! I knew that loon wouldn't pull it off! I lifted my left fist into the air with a whoop. As I brought it back down to my side, I remembered I was still holding something. I opened my hand and looked down at the twisted bat symbol. I realized that I was actually CHEERING for BATMAN. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself at the irony. After everything, he had kind of saved me in that darkness. And now that I felt guilty about all the things I'd done, I realized something. The Bat wasn't just some asshole out to ruin my day. He was just doing the right thing. He ALWAYS did the right thing. He always stopped us crooks and sent us back to where we belonged. And as much as he had the option, and as much as we probably deserved it, he never killed us. He always let us live to see the error of our ways, probably hoping we'd correct them some day. And for that, I kind of... admired him, as fucking strange as it was to admit. Batman had my respect.

I raised the trinket into the air by one of the wings, the way he did. "Well, here's to you, Batman. You finally got a winner." I chuckled. Hearing those words coming out of my mouth was just so God damn weird! But then again, a lot of things had changed in that sewer. I felt proud of myself for the first time in years. I'd gone through Hell and came out a new, better man. I wasn't about to turn hero or anything. Maybe I'd just try to find a bodyguard job or something. Something out of Gotham to get me back on my feet. One step at a time, I thought. One step at a time. I tucked the bat-arang back into my belt before hearing a loud noise, like exhaust from an engine. I suddenly saw something hover over the island. Something black. I watched as a rope fired up to it, and something flew up into it. Batman! I quickly heaved myself off the rock and back into the water as the thing took off toward me. I moved down below the surface as I watched the Bat-plane-jet-thing fly over my head, speeding back toward Gotham like a bullet. The man never slept. I shook my head in a strange approval.

As I began to make my way back toward the surface, I saw something floating above me. It looked like a box or a container of some kind. From what I could see, it had some kind of writing on the side written in pink or purple, like a label. I swam back up to the surface and reached out my arm, grabbing the object; whatever it may be.

* * *

_A/N: Well, here it is folks. The end. Sorry about the length, but this was a pretty epic ending. I wish I could have chopped it up, but that would have screwed up all my hard work on the tension. Yeah, the ending is really OOC, but if you've read this whole thing, you really can't expect someone who'd lived through all this just to go straight back to a life of crime! Besides, this is just for the video game universe anyway._  
_And speaking of video games, this final battle was influenced by one of my favorite games "The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction." I drew a lot of the Evil Croc from the Devil Hulk character that appears in the game. If I may quote, as he talks to Bruce in his mind: "I'm your inevitable conclusion. I'm the ultimate... you. I'm the devil!" I love that cut-scene._  
_Anyway, thanks a lot for reading my Killer Croc fan-fiction! I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. It's been a lot of fun writing for DC for a change, not that I'd like to make it permanent or anything . So, yeah. Thanks a lot, and have a nice day!_


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